Also, today would have been the birthday of Mexican legend El Santo (96)

In Memoriam

On this day in 1967, the wrestling world lost 2-time World Heavyweight Champion Stanislaus Zbyszko at the age of 88. Zbyszko was born in Poland but grew up in Austria. He was somewhat of a child prodigy, excelling in the academia aswell as possessing fantastic athletic abilities. In 1900, he gained his first exposure to the world of wrestling, when he challenged and defeated a professional wrestler at a local circus. Initially dismissing the sport, Zbyszko’s mind was changed when he saw the rise to fame of fellow Eastern European competitor Georg Hackenschmidt. In his early career, Zbyszko was involved in one of wrestling’s first scandals; he was competing on a tour of England, wrestling the Turkish competitor Kara Suliman. However, Suliman was revealed to a Bulgarian by the name of Ivan Offtharoff and was actually employed by Zbyszko and promoter CB Cochrane. In 1909, Zbyszko made his first major impact in America, wrestling Frank Gotch to a one-hour draw. He was involved in further controversy the following year; during a match with Gotch for the World Heavyweight Championship, Zbyszko approached his opponent for the customary handshake, only to be jumped and pinned by Gotch in 6.4 seconds. Gotch would go on to take the second fall in approximately half an hour and despite a protest from Zbyszko, the result stood. In 1921, Zbyszko returned to America and defeated Ed ‘Strangler’ Lewis for his first World Heavyweight Championship, however, his reign was not a box office success and he dropped the title back to Lewis the following year. Soon after, Zbyszko was involved in one of wrestling’s first screwjobs. Joe Stecher had fallen out with the ‘Gold Dust Trio’ of promoters and formed his own faction of wrestlers. Zbyszko remained with the Trio who were booking football star Wayne Munn as their champion, despite his little wrestling experience. Munn was booked to defeat Zbyszko in a match, but Zbyszko accepted a payoff from Stecher and defeated Munn in humiliating fashion, ruining his credibility, before dropping the title to Stecher a month later. This incident indirectly led to the rise of Lou Thesz, as promoters believed that his ‘hooking’ ability would prevent such double-crosses. Zbyszko retired soon after this incident and became a talent scout and trainer, discovering such talent as Harley Race, Antonino Rocca and Johnny Valentine. In his old age, he operated a chicken farm in New Jersey before passing of a heart attack.